PROGRAMMING BASIC TUTORIAL

for the: TI-83 & TI-83 Plus

by: HIEU-TRUNG LE
email: HTL2k3@hotmail.com
website: http://opa.ticalc.org (my programming group I am in)

Date started: 1/19/00

(note: please use wordwrap in notepad and maximize the screen to view this)



INTRODUCTION: (skip down if you don't wanna read, but read it to know more about what BASIC is)

Hello and welcome to my BASIC tutorial.  If you are one of those people out there with the TI-83 or TI-83+ graphing calculators playing all those games, then I bet that you are wondering how the people makes them.  Well of course you know that the people programs them, but you are also wondering how can you learn and make your own games or programs.  If you are one of those people (of course you are or you wouldn't be reading this tutorial), then you have come to the right place.  

This tutorial will teach you how to program on your TI-83 or TI-83+ calculator using the programming language called BASIC.  BASIC is an easy to learn programming language, but don't expect that you will be able to make a really good fast, graphical game with it like those games out there.  But BASIC is a very good language to learn for beginners and it is powerful too.  Learning this language first will allow you to learn the basics of programming.  So after learning BASIC completely, you can move on to learn a more complex programming language.

Please note that this tutorial teach very very basic commands and are for beginners.  Once you master it you should read another tutorial on more complex stuff.


GETTING STARTED TO PROGRAMMING BASIC:

-Turn on calculator
-Press the PRGM button 
-choose Create New


PROGRAMMING

OK, first give your new program a name.  Like Tutorial or whatever you like.
You will notice before each command you enter there is a : (colon) before it.  I will use that too in my program.  You will know if I am telling you to put a command if it has the Colon before it.  I will also put ; this key after the command to explain to you more about the command.  You shouldn't include it in your program.  For example, I give you the command:
 
:ClrHome			; clears the screen

You should only put the ClrHome command in the program, not the sentences after it or the colon before it.

Ok, to be able to access the list of commands in the calculator, once you are in the program editor you have to press the button PRGM again.  This will give you the list of commands available.  These aren't all the commands total but they will be most of the commands you will use.  

<Clearing the Screen>

:ClrHome			; this simply means clear the screen you are working with

This is the most simple command you can use.  You can put it in your program by accessing the commands menu.  Press PRGM, then -> , then number 8, or you can scroll down the menu.

<Displaying Text>

:Disp "Hello"			; I will explain this below

press: PRGM, -->, then number 3
This command simply means to display text.  You will put what ever you want for it to display inside the quotation marks "", if you don't include these quotation marks it will say error or won't display anything.  You will notice that each line can only contains a certain number of characters to display.  If you want to continue your sentence, you will have to use the Disp command again on the next line.

<Variables and Input>

:Disp "enter number"	
:Input A			; gets the user to press a number and store it in variable A
:Disp "enter number"
:Input B			; same as above except store in variable B
:Disp "The sum of"
:Disp "the two number"
:Disp "is:"
:Disp A+B			; notice no quotation marks after the Disp command.  read below

These commands will make the user put in 2 numbers, then the program will add them and display the answer.  This programs use variables, variables are values that the user input in.  The input command lets the user input in number and it also store them in variable A and B.  The last command displays the answer.  As you can see, if you don't put quotation marks around the text or whatever, the calculator will think that it is a variable.  So this command the calc. adds the two variable A and B together and display the answer.  

So you can use these commands to make the user enter whatever and then tell the calc. to display out the answer.  That is how many user make math programs that can find out different things.  Since the programmer made formulas within the programs, so when you input a number, the calculator will use the formula to find the answer.

Here is an example of the quadratic formula program:

:Prompt A			; Prompt is the same command like Input, except instead of
:Prompt B			; displaying the ? at the user to input the number or whatever,
:Prompt C			; it will display the variable then ? at the user.
:Disp (-b+(B^2-4AC)/2		; if the answer is error or wrong then please check the 
:Disp (-b-(B^2-4AC)/2		; formula and make sure the parentenses () are correct or else
				; else the formula will be wrong






Ok guys, that is it for now.  You have learned the basics of programming on your calculator.  I will write more later but for now read other advanced BASIC programming tutorials.

THANKS FOR READING.  Please email me with comments at HTL2k3@hotmail.com